Pea, hop shoot and goat cheese mezzaluna

I love the golden hops round the greenhouse - but they are misbehaving, sending suckers inside and then revelling in the heat and abundant water and crowding out my tomatoes - so it was time for another chop this evening.  I cut down a large handful of hop shoots (the top six inches of each shoot) and then realised that I didn't want omelette or fritatta which is how I normally eat them - instead I was rather keen to have some pasta.

So, I made pasta  using Doves Farm pasta flour mixed with egg yolks, and a tiny bit of water to bind, then rolled it into strips and cut out circles to make mezzaluna (half-moon).

The stuffing was made from an approximately equal mix of peas, hop shoots, goat cheese and mozzarella - slightly pureed down and then put into the pasta circles which were folded over and sealed. I boiled them for about 3 minutes then tossed them in melted butter with lemon zest, basil leaves and freshly ground black pepper.

I'm not sure that I could taste the hop shoots in there at all - maybe they don't add to the flavour - or just have a very delicate contribution to make? I think I'll try hop fritters next, or maybe one of my favourites: battered halloumi (a la Terre a Terre) on a bed of buttered hops - whatever, the hops are already planning their next greenhouse takeover so it won't be long.

When the cucumber runs out...

Gazpacho was in order with the sudden spell of very hot weather this weekend - but there was not a cucumber to be bought anywhere. I even had one lady complain to me that 'it's unfair all these people who don't normally eat it, the hot weather comes along and they all buy it for their barbecues and then people like us who always eat it can't get any'. I suspect I am one of those people who buys it in hot weather, I certainly don't buy it all the time, but wasn't going to admit that having made it onto her list of people behaving acceptably.

Oh well, gazpacho without the cucumber it is then! I started by cooking down some chopped onion in olive oil to soften it, then added it to some chopped tomatoes, some basil leaves and liquidised it like crazy.

Not having a decent sieve in the kitchen meant I had to filter it through a jelly bag - squeeze it through being a more accurate description. The resulting liquid was cloudy - it could have been clear if gravity had been left to do its thing, but that is for another recipe. The liquid then went into a jug in the fridge to chill for an hour.

I added a small amount of water, some salt and pepper and then poured it into glasses. Dollops of Yeo Valley yogurt dropped to the bottom and some chopped basil leaves finished it off (oh and a few drops of chilli oil for the kick) and that was it. I am going to have to try making gazpacho with cucumber sometime too - but for now this was most welcome at the end of a hot day spent at the allotment - and a much better flavour than I expected from a handful of tomatoes and an onion.

Comfrey and Fat Hen Pie

The smell of comfrey tea, a fantastic homemade fertiliser of plants, stewing in the water butt has always put me off eating comfrey myself. Until now.

The comfrey in the garden has grown ridiculously fast, and with the high winds this week, much has blown over forcing me to cut the first lot to make comfrey tea. So I took the opportunity to pick some of the best leaves for myself - with trepidation.

I started by blind baking a pie case that would end up a bit crunchy on the outside (I preferred it to a a very short pastry crust). The comfrey and fat hen were boiled for about 3 minutes - and actually smelled fantastic which I was not expecting! I then chopped them up and added them to a bechamel sauce to which I had added two egg yolks and some cottage cheese. This was all mixed up and put into the pastry crust, topped with some panko breadcrumbs and baked for 20-30 minutes.

I did not expect this to taste as good as it did, but I'm delighted to have found another leaf in the garden that can be used in place of spinach. Comfrey puts down incredibly long roots and is able to bring a lot of nutrients back to the surface - why its used to make liquid fertiliser for plants.  Fat Hen was traditionally used in cooking until mass-produced spinach replaced it. Hens also love it hence the name (and its effect on them apparently).

Recipe inspired by Rosamund Richardson's recipes for Fat Hen and Comfrey.